The Tyzula AU Trilogy
by Sara Jaye
Summary: A trilogy of AU-based oneshots about the Fire Nation Princess and her faithful acrobat. Character death warning for chapter 1.
1. Tragic Love: Song of the Wind and Flame

_This chapter is inspired heavily by the vintage yaoi manga Kaze to Ki no Uta (Song of the Wind and Trees)._

*

She was amazing. Smart, pretty, talented, cunning, a natural leader. How could anyone _not_ fall in love with her?

I met Princess Azula of the Fire Nation at the Royal Fire Academy for Girls when we were about six years old. She and Mai and I were a team, always together, completely inseperable. Sure, Azula could be bossy and Mai lacked enthusiasm for anything but we still had fun!

But we got older, and Mai and Azula's older brother got closer. Soon, they were always together, which bothered Azula a lot. Not me, though. I was happy to have Azula all to myself.

I'm pretty sure this is when I realized I was falling in love with her, even though we were only twelve.

Eventually, she went home to her father and I joined the circus. Our paths crossed again when she was given the task of apprehending her brother and her uncle, but the day took a weird turn when we discovered Mai was with them and refused to come to Azula's side.

That was the first time I caught a glimpse of the weakness she hid so well. After that day she refused to let me leave her side or even talk to anyone else. Looking back on it, I realize just how afraid she was...that I might betray her the way she felt Mai had.

She hid her weaknesses so well, but as time went on I noticed little cracks in her mask. Underneath there was a scared little girl who just wanted someone to love her, and I was going to be that someone.

_"Why do you cry, Azula? Don't lie to me, I can hear you at night."_

_"It's only your imagination, you're crazy."_

Azula did let me in, we became lovers and we were as happy as we could be. I thought it'd last forever. But soon I began to realize she wasn't well.

_"Ty Lee, if...if I die, will you take my ashes and spread them over the Academy's garden?"_

_"Why are you talking like that? You won't die, you have your whole life ahead of you!"_

_"Just promise me."_

After the war ended and her brother took the throne she went to a sanitarium. I came to see her, but there wasn't much change; sometimes she'd have this...far away look in her eyes, like she was chasing something she'd never catch.

I remember the last day I came to see her like it was yesterday.

_"Zuko, what's going on? Why is everyone-"_

_"My sister died. Threw herself from the tower in a fit of madness."_

_"No...no, you're lying, Azula would never do something like that!"_

After that I found out where was a lot about my princess I didn't know. So much...oh, Azula, why did you hide it all from me? If you'd just talked to me maybe I could've helped you and you'd still be here!

I still keep her royal headpiece on my nightstand. Every time I see it, I see the sharp golden eyes I fell in love with all those years ago.

Azula, the brightest flame in the Fire Nation. May your memory always burn on in my heart.


	2. The Spirits can See You: A Schoolgirl AU

_This chapter's inspiration is Maria-sama ga Miteru._

*

_~The maidens who assemble in the Spirit Agni's garden have such angelic smiles that ignorance passes through and goes away. Their pure bodies and minds are wrapped in dark-colored school uniforms. Walking slowly is preferred here. The Fire Nation Girls' School~_

"Ooh, isn't it exciting, Azula? Today we're going to be assigned our Guiding Sisters!"

"Come on, Ty Lee." Azula rolled her eyes, not looking up from filing her nails. "This whole thing's just an excuse for the older girls to boss the first-years around, and I don't want any part of it."

"Oh, I know some of the older girls are really mean, but Katara told me she heard they only assign nice girls as Guiding Sisters!" Ty Lee said.

"They just do that so people won't complain and they can keep their silly tradition," Azula retorted. Normally she found her girlfriend's enthusiasm refreshing and endearing, but not when it was for something as stupid as the outdated traditions of the Fire Nation Girls' School.

"You're just being a grumpy-bum, Azula," Ty Lee chided. "Even Mai's excited about it and she never gets excited about anything!" She did a little twirl, making her skirt spin out as she sat down on Azula's desk. Azula threw her nail file down and glared at the other girl.

"And what happens when we're assigned these Guiding Sisters? We spend all our time with them and they become more important than anyone else!" she snapped. "And sometimes a Protege falls in _love_ with her Guiding Sister."

Ty Lee smirked.

"Awww, you're jealous!" she squealed. "That is _so sweet_, Azula, I didn't know I meant_ that_ much to you!"

"Of course I am! It was hard enough to get you all to myself in the first place, what with all those lecherous upperclassmen and that rival boys' school next door wanting to get under your skirt," Azula said disdainfully. Then, without warning, she hopped up onto the desk and pulled Ty Lee into her lap. "So I'll have to make sure you never, ever forget about me even no matter how cool your Guiding Sister is..."

"Azula!" Ty Lee squeaked as Azula's fingers slid beneath her skirt. "We're in a _classroom_, what if someone catches us?!"

"It's all part of the thrill," Azula murmured against the other girl's lips, her other hand moving to cup a breast through the soft fabric of her blouse, "all part of the thrill..."


	3. Wasting Time: A College AU

The general unspoken rule of college was that boys spent their nights drinking and laughing at stupid crap on the internet while girls went partying and trying to flirt with the boys who _weren't_ looking at stupid crap on the internet.

Azula always loved to break the rules.

"Ty Lee, look at this one. Some guy's making an ass of himself to Blink 182 songs again!"

"Wow, people still listen to Blink 182?" Ty Lee giggled. "Oh my God, what's he _doing_ with that cow lamp?!"

"Something he'd get thrown in prison for if that were a _real_ cow," Azula snorted. "Why are boys so stupid? They'll do anything just to get a laugh even if it involves public humiliation!"

"Your brother isn't! He does that cool book review blog with Aang and they're pretty tame!" Ty Lee said.

"Well, yeah, Aang is all squeaky-clean and mature and my brother's too much of a dweeb to make any decent dirty jokes," Azula said dismissively. "But even they've done some stupid stunts for a cheap laugh now and then. Remember all the 'big brother is watching you masturbate' jokes they kept making in their review of 1984?"

"But those were funny! Come on, a line like that's just asking for it," Ty Lee said. "And you laugh when they do it with the cat macros!"

"Ceiling Cat is a legend!" Azula said, very seriously. "They _mangled_ it with their immaturity!"

Ty Lee smiled and rolled her eyes. It was hard to reason with her girlfriend when she got into one of her Serious Business moods. Luckily, she didn't have to; there was a knock on the door and she heard a boy's voice yelling to them.

"Azulaaa! Ty Leeee! Come to our dorm, we're playing Gladiator Mice!"

Azula rolled her eyes.

"Not now, Chan, we're too busy making out," she said dryly. Ty Lee stifled a giggle; she still couldn't believe someone like Azula had spent their entire senior year crushing on the guy. Chan was perfectly nice, in some respects, but he was also extremely immature and his jokes were worse than Azula claimed Zuko's were.

"Yeah right!" Chan yelled back, but the girls were relieved to hear his footsteps walking away from the door.

"We're not making out, though, we're watching a ferret eat a potato chip," Ty Lee said. Azula grinned, grabbing a sock from the nightstand.

"We could be, though."

No one bothered them for the rest of the night.


End file.
